Alongside Fordham’s undergraduate class of 2026, three other degree recipients will walk the stage on May 16.
The first is former “Today” show co-host and Fordham’s 2026 commencement speaker Hoda Kotb, who will receive a doctorate of humane letters as an honorary degree at the ceremony.
There will be two additional honorary degree recipients, who both have previously earned degrees from Fordham University in their undergraduate education. They will be receiving doctorates of humane letters as well: Gerry Byrne, FCRH ’66, and Maureen Corrigan, Ph.D., FCRH ’77.
The former has a history with Fordham that began in 1958 at the start of his high school career. Byrne attended Fordham Preparatory School from his first year of high school up until his graduation before continuing his education at the associated university.
At Fordham, Byrne studied economics and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1966.
After, Byrne was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class Program, and he served on active duty from 1966 to 1969, specifically on a tour in Vietnam as a captain.
A gathering hosted on Nov. 6, 2022, to mark Fordham’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps’ 175th anniversary of military training at Fordham was recorded by Fordham Magazine’s Chris Gosier. Byrne reportedly spoke at the event, mentioning Fordham’s effect on his development.
“What I learned at Fordham Prep and Fordham College from the Jesuits was ethics and integrity,” Byrne said during the gathering.
Byrne was admitted into Fordham’s Military Hall of Fame in December 2022.
After the Marine Corps, Byrne began a career in media. He started as a national sales representative for the New York Daily News in September 1969.
In June 1973, he transferred his role as a sales representative to Advertising Age. From there, he rose through the ranks, becoming international sales director in February 1977, and then eastern sales manager in February 1980.
He left Advertising Age in April 1982 to become vice president and publisher of electronic media at Crain Communications before transitioning into vice president and publisher of Crain’s New York Business.
After Crain Communications, he did a brief one-year stint at ACT III Communications as their senior vice president of international development and acquisitions.
Byrne then went to Variety to become a group vice president and publisher from 1989 to 2000.
Following his tenure with Variety, he became president and Chief Executive Officer of Stagebill Media for two years.
In October 2003, he became a senior advisor for Parade Magazine and began his own media consulting company, Gerry Byrne Media Partners, LLC. During his time as owner, he founded and chaired the Quills Literacy Foundation and the Quill Awards.
Byrne later became senior vice president of The Entertainment Group under Nielsen Business Media in March 2007.
From the end of his time at Nielsen Business Media, he became a board member of several different companies, such as Veterans Advantage, Fisher House Foundation, Washington Life Magazine, Bob Woodruff Foundation and Gotham Film & Media Institute, several of which he is still involved with. He also continues to serve as the vice chairman of Penske Media Corporation and chairman of the advisory board of the Hamptons International Film Festival.
The second awardee, Corrigan, is also a distinguished presence in media, specifically the literary world.
Corrigan attended Fordham University from 1973 to 1977, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English. She went on to earn a Master of Arts and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, and currently teaches at Georgetown University as the Nicky and Jamie Grant Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Literary Criticism.
Most recognizably, Corrigan is known for her role as a book critic for National Public Radio’s (NPR) “Fresh Air,” a Peabody Award-winning program.
Additionally, she serves as a mystery columnist for The Washington Post and publishes regularly for NPR and The Wall Street Journal, according to her bio on Georgetown University’s website.
Corrigan also serves as an Advisory Board member for the American Writers Museum in Chicago and has previously served as a juror for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the LA Times Book Prize, the latter of which she also served as panel head.
Additionally, Corrigan is the author of “Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works,” a one-season lecture series from The Great Courses company on banned books.
She has written and published several books as well, namely “So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures,” which was named the Best Book of 2014 by Library Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Kansas City Star. Corrigan also has a literary memoir titled “Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading,” which was published in 2005 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Corrigan is currently working on a book about banning books, specifically in America, set to be published in 2028 by Knopf.
All three recipients will receive a doctorate of humane letters, which is an honorary degree awarded typically for significant contributions to society, according to the National Library of Medicine under the National Institutes of Health. It is typically one reserved for those who have gone through philanthropic work.
Kotb, Byrne and Corrigan will all receive their doctorates on Saturday, May 16.
